Dead and Alive
by LuckyLadybug
Summary: CONCLUDED WITH CHAPTER 6! James is killed in a tragic fire accident . . . or was it an accident? And is he really dead? Should I write a sequel? Tell me!
1. 1

Pokemon  
Dead and Alive  
By Lucky_Ladybug  
  
  
Notes: None of the characters are mine, except some of the baddies! ^_~ Just the story idea is mine, and I hope y'all enjoy! ^^ BTW, I'm *really* bad with Pokemon names and details about the characters' pasts, sooo please forgive if anything sounds too strange! I tried to get everything aligned with the TV show ^_~  
  
  
"What's happening?" Jessie screamed in shock. "James, you idiot, did you do this??"  
  
"It's the twerps again!" Meowth declared.  
  
Fire was shooting up all around them, covering the nearby trees and an already-collapsing cabin.  
  
"Jessie! Get out of the way!" James gasped, pushing her away just as a huge fireball landed.  
  
The smoke and fire was getting too thick to see anything, and several large branches fell from a nearby tree, separating the three Team Rocket members.  
****  
"Look at that!" Ash gasped, pointing at the flames.  
  
"It's a forest fire!" Misty exclaimed.  
  
"And a big one at that!" Brock added. "Somebody call the fire department!"  
  
Misty ran off to do just that while Ash and Brock unleashed their water-squirting Pokemon in an attempt to put the blazes out.  
  
Suddenly a small creature darted out of the flames, coughing.  
  
"It's Meowth!" Ash realized. "What's going on? Did you start this fire?"  
  
"No!" Meowth replied, coughing again. "Somebody's tryin' to barbeque us! I thought it was you twerps!"  
  
"We wouldn't do something like this!" Brock said indignantly.  
  
"Oh no?" Meowth was obviously referring to the time the Volpix and the Ninetales caught them in a fire blast. "Ya always run wild with your Pokemon! And one of these days, you're gonna wind up hurtin' someone! Like today!"  
  
"We didn't start this!" Ash insisted. "Are Jessie and James in there somewhere?"  
  
"They're not here?" Meowth's eyes went big. "Then they must still be in there!"  
  
"We've gotta get them out," Ash said grimly.  
  
Meowth turned around to scamper back into the inferno, and wound up crashing right into Jessie as she made her way out. "Where's James?" she demanded.  
  
"He's in there somewhere!" Meowth exclaimed, gesturing wildly.  
  
"What!" Jessie's eyes narrowed into slits when she saw Ash and Brock. "If you twerps were responsible for this . . ."  
  
"We weren't already!" Ash yelled, getting frustrated.  
  
"Pika!" Pikachu added in agreement.  
  
That's when Misty returned with the fire truck. "Team Rocket?" she gasped. "I should've known!"  
  
"We didn't do this, you little brat," Jessie growled. "We have to find James!" She attempted to disappear back into the flames, but a firefighter stopped her.  
  
"Hold on, miss," he said, "you've inhaled enough smoke for one day. You'd better leave the searching up to us."  
  
"I have to find him!" Jessie's eyes glowed as red as the fire.  
  
"Don't worry, miss, we will," the firefighter assured her.  
  
"Gee, I hope he's okay," Ash said softly.  
****  
"Jessie? Meowth?"  
  
James stumbled through the smoke and flames, staying low to the ground. The fire was starting to get to him, and he knew he wouldn't last much longer unless he could get some fresh air.  
  
Suddenly something grabbed him from behind, pulling him up by his hair.  
  
"Who are you?? Unhand me!!" James ordered, his eyes watering and blurring his vision.  
  
"At last." The voice was cold and harsh, with no feeling in it whatsoever, and muffled by some kind of breathing mask. "I have waited years for this. Now you shall die, you meddling imbecile. A pity, really. If you'd only left well enough alone we might not be having this meeting."  
  
"Where are Jessie and Meowth?" James demanded, fighting to get free.  
  
"Ah, never mind them. It's you I want, young James." His hands curled around the boy's neck. "I have poured gasoline around the fire. You can imagine the damage that's causing."  
  
"Why are you doing this?" James tried vainly to pull his captor's hands away. He didn't have enough oxygen as it was without being strangled out of the rest of it.  
  
"You know too much. And I want to make certain you never tell it."  
  
"I don't know anything!" James protested, stomping on his unknown enemy's foot.  
  
"That act won't get you anywhere except to the afterlife." The voice was even colder now, if that was possible. The foot-stomping hadn't fazed him one bit, it seemed.  
  
"I won't die without a fight!" James gasped, knowing that he was too weak to do anything. He dug into the other's hands in vain. One final burst of pressure around his neck and he was gone.  
  
"I believe you already have," his captor smirked wickedly, releasing his grip on the Team Rocket member, who dropped to the ground in a lifeless heap. "He has entered the sleep from which no one awakes." And with that, the dark figure vanished into the smoke.  
****  
"What's happening?" Ash gasped. "Why are there all those explosions?"  
  
"In all likelihood, someone has been busy with a gasoline tank," a firefighter responded grimly.  
  
"A what??!!" Jessie leaped up from her position on the grass. "That's it! I'm going in there to get James, whether you like it or not!"  
  
Before anyone could stop her, she was dashing back into the inferno.  
  
"She'll be killed!" Misty gasped.  
  
"Well, there's no stopping her now," Ash remarked somberly.  
****  
The fire raged long into the night and the early morning hours. Meowth paced nervously back and forth, and Ash could've sworn that he saw the feline Pokemon shed a few tears.  
  
"Pika?"  
  
"Yeah, Pikachu, it doesn't look good," Ash agreed.  
  
"What could have caused this?" Misty said angrily. "Or who! If gasoline was poured around, this wasn't an accident!"  
  
"It's a mystery," Ash sighed. "If someone did this on purpose, they're seriously demented!"  
  
It was hours later when the flames were finally extinguished. The firefighters surveyed the blackened forest grimly.  
  
"This will take weeks to clean up," one of them remarked.  
  
"Did ya find any sign of Jessie or James?" Meowth asked another one pleadingly.  
  
"Nothing," she replied, just as a bedraggled figure staggered throught the debris.  
  
"Jessie!" Meowth exclaimed, running to greet her. "You're alright!"  
  
"But James isn't." Jessie collapsed to the ground in tears. "I couldn't find him anywhere. He's gone! He must be!"  
  
"Gone?" Meowth started crying right along with her. "But Jim can't be gone! He was too young to have his life go up in smoke like that!"  
  
"Gone?" Ash and his friends echoed.  
  
"Pika?" Pikachu's eyes glistened and abruptly he wandered off into the debris.  
  
"Pikachu! Come back!" Ash called in vain, running to catch his Pokemon.  
  
"Where's he going?" Misty wondered.  
  
"Easy, kid, you'd better not go in there," a firefighter said gently, preventing Ash from chasing Pikachu. "It's probably not safe yet."  
  
"But that's my Pokemon!" Ash protested.  
  
"He'll probably be safer in there than you'd be," the firefighter replied firmly. "We don't want to lose anyone else."  
  
It turned out the firefighter was right. Pikachu returned a couple of hours later, carrying something in his mouth.  
  
"Pikachu! Why did you go off? And what have you brought back?" Ash knelt down next to his Pokemon and gasped at what he was handed—a tattered, bloody glove.  
  
"Pika," Pikachu said sadly.  
  
"What's that?" Jessie demanded, then saw and turned pale. "James' glove," she realized. She nearly fainted, but managed to steady herself. "He really is gone."  
  
"Not Jim!" Meowth bawled. "He can't be! He just can't be!"  
****  
Even though James had certainly been one of Ash's enemies, his death was felt deeply even by him, Misty, and Brock.  
  
"It seems so strange to think of him being gone," Misty said softly. The firefighters had combed the area searching for his body but had found nothing. They now considered the fire to be arson since finding an empty can of gasoline amongst the charred and burned wood and grass and had concluded that James had probably been caught in one of the explosions.  
  
Ash and Brock nodded. "Pikachu isn't taking it very well either," Ash remarked, looking down at his Pokemon, who was sitting on the ground looking gloomy. "Strange, isn't it? James was always after Pikachu and we hated it, but now that he's . . . gone, I kinda wish he'd pop up out of nowhere with some new crazy scheme . . ."  
  
"Pika," Pikachu said in agreement. It was the first and only time he would agree with such a statement.  
  
"I wonder what Jessie will do now," Brock commented, glancing over at the Team Rocket girl, who was looking very alone and lost.  
  
"Maybe we should go talk to her," Ash suggested. Slowly he made his way over to Jessie, with Misty, Brock, and Pikachu following closely. "Jessie . . . we're sorry about James," Ash said softly.  
  
Jessie's head snapped up and she looked like she wanted to retort, "Oh *sure* you are," but then she saw the sincerity in Ash's eyes. She sighed, trying to control her emotions, and finally invited them to sit with her. They remained in silence for ages, until Jessie said quietly, "I called him an idiot. That was the last thing I said to him. I called him an idiot and accused him of starting the fire. I . . . I was just so angry . . . it just came out. . . . Now I'll never get the chance to tell him I'm sorry, that I didn't mean it. . . ." She couldn't believe she was spilling her emotions out to the twerps, but right now they didn't seem like the enemies they always had been before, and she needed to talk to somebody. "He's gone, he's really gone this time! And I treated him so badly. . . . I'll never forgive myself."  
  
"I'm sure he knows you didn't mean it," Misty said compassionately.  
  
Jessie shook her head sadly as she stood up and walked away.  
  
"Jessie?"  
  
She turned around. Meowth was scampering after her, and she waited for him to catch up before continuing on. "First my mother and now James," she said angrily. "The only two people who ever really cared about me, and now they're both gone."  
  
"I care about ya, Jessie," Meowth replied softly. "And if we stick together, we can get through this."  
  
Jessie sighed. "It'll never be the same," she said low. "And the boss will probably decide to send someone else to be my partner. I don't want someone else, darn it—I want James!"  
  
"I do too, Jess," Meowth said sadly. "I'm really gonna miss ol' Jim." 


	2. 2

Note: I don't know much about Giovanni, soo I portrayed him as acting a lot like the villain Pegasus from Yu-Gi-Oh! ^_~ I hope I didn't get him way out of character! ;)  
  
  
The cold water lapped against him, finally rousing him from a long unconscious state. He tried to open his eyes but found them glued shut, so he tried to remember instead. Remember something, anything, but nothing was there. He started to panic as he realized he had no clue who he was or anything about where he was or why he was there.  
  
"Jessie," he whispered, then stopped. Who was Jessie? Why had her name come to mind? Was she someone important to him?  
  
Finally he managed to open his eyes. It was nighttime, and he was laying on a beach somewhere, all alone. No one was around at all, and that frightened him a bit. He didn't like the thought of being somewhere by himself with no idea who he was and no one around who could tell him.  
  
Jessie . . . maybe she could tell him, if only he could find her!  
  
He coughed, choking on the water he'd apparently swallowed while senseless and suddenly becoming aware of a stinging pain in his right arm. When he looked at it, he saw a long trail of blood coming from a wound near his wrist. Where had that come from? Was it infected?  
  
He looked for something he could use to stop the bleeding. Next to him were several jagged strips of white cloth. "These will have to do," he said to himself. He idly wondered whether he talked to himself a lot as he wrapped the cloth around the cut.  
  
He happened to catch a glimpse of his reflection in the now-calmed water. He had long bluish-lavender hair that came to a couple of inches above his shoulders, deep emerald eyes, and a generally youthful appearance. He couldn't say for sure, but he estimated that he was somewhere around sixteen years of age. It's an eerie feeling to look in the reflective waters and see a stranger staring back at you, he thought ruefully.  
  
He was wearing a black short-sleeved shirt with white pants, part of a uniform perhaps . . . but for what?  
  
He wondered if anyone knew he was missing and would look for him. "Or maybe they think I'm dead," he muttered aloud.  
  
He struggled to get up. "I have to find some kind of civilization somewhere," he decided. Judging from his isolated location, that could take a while.  
****  
Jessie left Giovanni's office in despair. She had dreaded the meeting with him that she had known would come, and it had been even stranger than she had ever imagined. She still wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing.  
  
"So, Jessie, I hear that James finally met his demise," he had said in that smooth voice of his, making Jessie even angrier by his emotionless tone.  
  
"Yes, sir, he has," she had replied, trying to control her feelings and be strong.  
  
"Well, he never was one of the best Team Rocket members."  
  
Jessie fumed. Maybe James hadn't always been the most intelligent member, but he had always been good to her, and she didn't like anyone else to say he wasn't intelligent.  
  
"We can do without imbeciles such as he was," Giovanni had continued. "Frankly, Jessie, he was never on the same level as you. I don't know why I ever put you two together as a team. You would have done much better with someone like Butch."  
  
"I didn't want Butch, sir," Jessie had said.  
  
"Yes, yes. Maybe you perhaps had some feelings for that imbecile James?" Giovanni had grinned in a knowing way.  
  
"If you mean romantically, no sir, never," Jessie had replied, stunned at the question. "But sir . . ." she had rushed on, ". . . if you've called me here to talk about a new partner, would it be at all possible to . . . postpone that? Meowth and I could make a good team and . . ."  
  
"Jessie, Jessie," Giovanni had interrupted. "There you go, jumping to conclusions. Actually, I just called you over to offer my condolences." His smooth, emotionless voice hadn't made Jessie feel at all better. "If someone was trying to purposely murder my Team Rocket agents, I can assure you that I will get to the bottom of this outrage."  
  
Jessie had been able to tell Giovanni wasn't sincere. She had expected that, but his tone of voice had sent a chill up her spine. Was it possible . . . conceivable . . . that perhaps . . . Giovanni himself had been responsible? She would have to be on her guard.  
  
"But since you brought it up, Jessie," Giovanni had continued, "you will need a new partner."  
  
"Sir, I've worked with James for years," Jessie had replied, "and I really wouldn't feel comfortable with a new partner . . . especially now."  
  
"True, you must still be in shock." Giovanni had clasped his hands together and leaned forward, his smile only making Jessie more uneasy. "Perhaps I should give you a couple of weeks off, hmm? I don't want to lose any more of my agents, after all."  
  
"Thank you, sir," Jessie had said, surprised. Inwardly she knew that Giovanni must have a reason for this, something dark and sinister. But if he did, she wouldn't be able to let on that she suspected anything. "That would be appreciated."  
  
"Consider it done," Giovanni had said smoothly. "Now, my dear, you are dismissed."  
  
"So, how'd it go?"  
  
Jessie was thrown back into the present as Meowth suddenly appeared in her line of vision.  
  
"As well as could be expected." She looked around furtively and disappeared into a nearby cluster of trees, with Meowth following confused. "We have to be careful, Meowth."  
  
"Why?" Meowth cocked his head. "Ya mean ya think someone might try to torch us again?"  
  
Jessie sighed. Why did Meowth have to be so blunt? "Well, frankly, yes. I don't trust Giovanni."  
  
"Who does?" Meowth shrugged.  
  
"I'm starting to wonder if he was behind that fire," Jessie said grimly.  
  
"Him? Why would he do that?" Meowth's eyes went even wider than usual.  
  
"I don't know. Just . . . be very careful the next two weeks," Jessie warned.  
****  
The nameless young man stumbled through the brush and trees. He didn't know how long he'd been walking, but it seemed like ages. Was that a building he could see through the trees? Maybe he'd finally reached a city.  
  
Without warning, a strange, monkey-like creature swung down in front of him, chattering. Startled, the boy shrieked and backed up.  
  
The monkey creature looked started too, he realized. It acted almost as if it had seen him before, but he wasn't sure whether that was a good or a bad thing.  
  
"Pardon me," the boy said uncomfortably, walking around the creature and continuing on. He wondered if he talked to animals a lot.  
  
He was getting very weak by the time he finally came into the clearing and saw the building. "A Pokemon hospital?" He read the letters over the door, confused. What was a Pokemon? Oh well . . . maybe someone in there could help him.  
  
With his last ounces of strength, he pushed the door open and went in. Inside he saw a red-haired girl in a nurse's uniform, and her eyes went wide when she saw him.  
  
"Team Rocket!" she gasped.  
  
"Who?"  
  
She took in his battered appearance. "What happened to you??! Did you get blasted off again?"  
  
"I have no idea what you're talking about," he replied, trying to steady himself by grabbing the wall. "All I know is that I woke up on a beach with no idea how I got there, or who I am. . . ." The nurse could see his eyes were glassy. "And I do believe further explanations will have to wait until later, because I think I'm about to pass out!"  
  
With that he collapsed on the floor. 


	3. 3

Nurse Joy absolutely could not believe it. That boy from Team Rocket—what was his name? John, Jason . . . James, that was it—had just suddenly staggered into the Pokemon hospital and fainted.  
  
Wait a minute . . . hadn't she heard that James had been killed in an explosion? How could this be him? According to the firefighter she'd seen being interviewed, there was no way he could've escaped the inferno.  
  
Well, she'd worry about that later. Right now she'd better see if he was badly hurt.  
  
"What's going on here?" One of the doctors came out of his office, having heard a loud crash.  
  
"Somebody came in and promptly passed out, Doctor," Nurse Joy replied. She was kneeling down on the floor next to the boy checking for a pulse.  
  
"Isn't he from Team Rocket?" the doctor asked, his eyes narrowing. "I'd recognize that bluish-lavender hair anywhere!"  
  
"I don't really think that's important right now, Doctor," Nurse Joy said, feeling a bit angry. "He's hurt."  
  
The doctor sighed. "You're right, of course, Nurse Joy."  
****  
When he opened his eyes, he found himself laying on a bed in what looked like a hospital room. For a minute he couldn't place where he was, but then he remembered the Pokemon hospital. Looking around, he spotted the red-haired nurse, who smiled at him.  
  
"You're awake, I see," she said.  
  
"What happened?" he asked.  
  
"You came in and fainted on the floor," she told him. "Whatever you've been through, I think you're very lucky to be alive. You have multiple cuts and bruises, including that nasty wound on your arm and a bump on your head. It's a wonder you don't have a concussion!"  
  
"I don't remember what happened to me," he sighed.  
  
She looked at him curiously. "When you came in, you also said you didn't know who you are. Is that true?"  
  
He nodded, looking lost.  
  
"Does the name 'Team Rocket' mean anything to you?" she asked.  
  
"Nothing at all," he replied. "Why?"  
  
The nurse looked around furtively, then came closer. "I think your name is James and that you work with them," she said.  
  
"That could very well be. I wouldn't know, at least not anymore," he sighed.  
  
"Well, I'll call you James," she smiled. "You know, it's been quite a while since I've had a patient that wasn't a Pokemon."  
  
"That's another thing—what's a Pokemon?"  
  
The nurse blinked in surprise. "Oh my. You really do have a bad case of amnesia."  
  
The boy sighed. "Well, never mind the Pokemon for now." He paused. "Since you seem to know about me, do I know someone named Jessie?"  
  
"Yes, I believe you do," the nurse replied. "But I have no idea where she is right now." She gave him a concerned look. "You know, the doctor found some strange marks on your neck, as if someone tried to strangle you."  
  
He turned pale. "Someone tried to strangle me?"  
  
"I'm afraid so."  
  
"Well, this is just peachy," he muttered sarcastically. "Not only can I not remember who I am, but now I'm informed that someone wants me dead. If they find out I'm alive, they'll probably try again!"  
  
"Oh, I don't know about that," the nurse said. "If you don't know who you are, it will be pretty hard for them to find out you're still alive."  
  
"I'm certain whoever it is has their ways," the boy replied nervously.  
****  
He couldn't have been more right.  
  
"Sir?"  
  
A dark shadow turned toward the agent. "Yes?"  
  
"You're not going to like this, sir," the agent said apologetically. "Agent Kidd spotted a young man resembling James entering a Pokemon hospital."  
  
"A what?! Hmmm, now why would he do that? Do you suppose he thinks *he's* a Pokemon?" The man chuckled at his own joke.  
  
"Sir, you don't seem surprised that he's still among the living," the agent observed in surprise.  
  
"Perhaps that's because I already knew," the silhouetted man said with a grim smile. "I have my ways. Apparently young James is more of a fighter than I give him credit for. Now, then, do you know what Pokemon hospital he's at?"  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
"Well, then, perhaps you should do something about it. Dismissed."  
  
"Yes, sir!" The agent turned and left.  
  
His boss smirked nastily. "I don't know how you managed that one, James, but you can be certain I won't let it happen again," he muttered.  
****  
The boy looked out the window curiously. He had decided to call himself James since that nurse seemed certain he was that person. He jerked in surprise upon seeing a bunch of strange people converging near the window. Sensing danger, he ducked down before they could see him.  
  
"He's in there, I know he is," he heard the apparent leader say. "Now you all know what he looks like . . ."  
  
"Uh, I don't," someone spoke up sheepishly.  
  
"Idiot. He has bluish-lavender hair, green eyes, and a British accent. Now go find him and eliminate him!"  
  
James gasped. They were after him! He had to get out of there, and fast. Maybe he could sneak out in some kind of disguise. He was good at disguises. Wait . . . how did he know that? Oh, never mind that now; he needed to concentrate on staying alive, then ponder on his past.  
  
Quickly he dove out of the room and down the hall to a door marked Staff Only. Several minutes later he emerged in a nurse's uniform, his hair hidden under the cap and colored contacts tinting his eyes brown. Looking around furtively, he grabbed a laundry cart and started wheeling it down the hall.  
  
"Excuse me, ma'am."  
  
James froze. "Yes?" he said in a high-pitched, nasal voice.  
  
"Have you seen some idiot with blue hair running around the hospital? He might have been carrying a rose and calling himself James."  
  
"No, I haven't seen anyone like that," James replied.  
  
"Sorry to bother you, ma'am." The man walked on down the hall and James breathed a sigh of relief. He rounded a corner and suddenly bumped into a tough-looking guy with turquoise hair. "Oh, hello," James greeted, still using the high-pitched voice. "Pardon me, I wasn't watching where I was going . . ."  
  
Unfortunately for James, this guy didn't fool as easily as the other one. "James," he sneered, "so we meet again." He grabbed James by the front of his uniform threateningly.  
  
"Uh . . . we're met before?" James was totally confused.  
  
"Don't try any funny stuff," the tough guy snapped. "Now you're just going to come with me."  
  
"Oh really? I wasn't aware of that. I do believe I'll pass."  
  
"You don't have a choice!" He looked about ready to punch James out.  
  
James had to think fast. "Look over there!" he tried pointing at the wall behind them.  
  
"Don't be ridiculous. I'm not falling for that," his captor growled.  
  
While he may not have, he was momentarily startled, giving James just the opening he needed to give him a swift kick on the knee, causing him to release his grip, shrieking in pain. Panic-stricken, James shoved the laundry cart at him and bolted down the hall.  
  
"After him! He's getting away!" the tough guy yelled angrily, pushing the laundry cart away.  
  
James looked around for a door, and finding none, he broke a nearby window and jumped through. The agents rushed over and looked out. There was no sign of him anywhere.  
  
"Looks like he's flown the coop again, Butchie," a honey-blonde said to the turquoise-haired guy.  
  
"How can someone so moronic keep eluding us?" Butch fumed.  
  
"Do we really have to report this to the boss?" another agent moaned.  
  
"He won't like it, that's for sure," a fourth spoke up.  
  
"Come on," Butch growled, not bothering to answer the question. "Let's get out of here before they sic the cops on us."  
****  
James, hanging precariously from the ledge below the window, listened to the conversation wide-eyed. He had to get far away from here, and fast. He wondered what on earth he'd done to make their boss so angry at him. 


	4. 4

Jessie sighed hopelessly, staring into her lemonade. Had it really been three days since James . . .  
  
It was still so hard to get used to the fact that he was gone. She kept thinking that any minute he would appear saying, "Prepared for trouble?" with that sweet smile . . .  
  
She couldn't believe how badly she had treated him at times. Certainly James had been dense at times, but he had more than made up for it with his kindness towards her. In all the years they had worked together, he had only snapped at her a few times.  
  
She idly wondered why Meowth was taking so long with getting the rest of their order.  
  
Suddenly her head snapped up as she realized someone was staring at her. She found herself looking at a forlorn young man dressed as a busboy. His hair was hidden from view, pulled back into a ponytail and mostly crammed under the hat. His thick glasses framed deep, sad green eyes. He looked so familiar . . . so like James . . . it was eerie.  
  
"Have we met before?" she stammered finally, completely taken aback.  
  
"I don't know," he replied in a soft voice. "I was trying to remember."  
  
"You remind me of someone," Jessie said, feeling a bit silly. "He's . . . gone now, and I . . . I miss him."  
  
"I'm sorry," the young man said, laying a hand on hers. He looked around abruptly and gasped. "Oh my. I have to go!"  
  
Before Jessie could reply, he had vanished. She looked around, wondering what had scared him so. All she saw was Butch, who didn't see her, much to her relief. She curiously wondered how the frightened boy knew Butch, and why he looked so much like James, but then didn't have the chance to think more about it when a loud yowl came from the building.  
  
"What in the . . . Meowth!" she exclaimed upon rushing inside. The feline Pokemon was laying on the floor, gasping for breath. "What happened to you?"  
  
"I think ya was right, Jess," Meowth rasped. "Someone's tryin' to paste all of us!" With that his eyes closed and he fell limp.  
  
"What happened here?" Jessie demanded of the patrons, who were all watching with goggle-eyed interest. She picked up the small animal and cradled him in her arms.  
  
"Some thugs came in and started bullying the Meowth," a seven-year-old volunteered. "They said something about taking him out and then sicced their Pokemon on him! He tried to fight back, but they got the advantage over him. Then they all ran out and that's when you ran in!"  
  
Jessie's eyes narrowed angrily. "Someone tell me where the nearest Pokemon hospital is."  
****  
Two days later  
  
Ash, Misty, and Brock were walking through the downtown area of a city they were passing through when Pikachu suddenly jumped down from Ash's shoulder and scampered off into the crowd.  
  
"Pikachu! Where are you going?" Ash demanded, chasing after him. "Come back!"  
  
"Excuse us," Misty and Brock said countless times as they weaved in and out of the throngs of people.  
  
"I wonder where Pikachu's taking us," Brock muttered.  
  
"Look out!" Misty cried as they narrowly missed hitting a fruit stand.  
  
Ash, in the meantime, had gone out ahead of the others and followed Pikachu down a side street, where the Pokemon abruptly tackled a passerby, bringing him to the ground. "Pika-pika!"  
  
"Pikachu, what are you . . ." Ash stopped in astonishment. He found himself staring at a boy a few years older than him, who stared back, his brown eyes wide and terrified. He had been wearing some kind of disguise, but the blonde wig had fallen off and revealed his true hair color, an unusual and familiar bluish-lavender. He blinked, colored contacts slipping out of his eyes to uncover a deep emerald shade.  
  
"Pika-pika!" Pikachu declared, sitting atop the boy's chest.  
  
"No way!" Ash gasped. "It can't be! You're dead!!"  
  
"Are you certain you don't have me mixed up with someone else?" the boy asked, frightened.  
  
Ash stepped back. "You look just like James from Team Rocket," he said.  
  
"Pika!" Pikachu announced, meaning "this *is* James from Team Rocket!"  
  
"Ash, what's happening?" Misty called, as she and Brock finally caught up.  
  
"Look who Pikachu just found," Ash exclaimed.  
  
"Are you going to try to kill me too?" The boy looked close to panic.  
  
"What *are* you talking about?" Misty demanded. "If you're really James, he's already supposed to be dead, so we couldn't kill him again! And besides, we wouldn't kill anybody!"  
  
"Maybe this is a new trick to catch Pikachu," Brock suggested.  
  
"Catch what??!"  
  
"Pika-chu!!" the furry creature announced.  
  
"You're Pikachu?" The boy stared at him. "Why would I be trying to catch this? It seems as though it's caught me."  
  
"Wait a minute. . . ." Ash stared at the older boy, realization dawning. "You don't know what's going on, do you? You don't remember anything."  
  
"What makes you think that?" He had to be very careful, not trusting anyone, not when some people wanted him dead. And he honestly didn't remember these kids either, even though they seemed to remember him. "I've just never seen any of you before and that's that."  
  
"Hmmm . . ." Ash paused thoughtfully. Nothing was making sense, but James *was* dead, so how could this person really be him? "I'm sorry for the confusion," he said finally, reaching out a hand to help the boy stand up.  
  
"Oh, it's quite alright . . ." The boy trailed off when he realized Ash was staring at the bandage around his wrist.  
  
"What happened to your wrist?" Ash asked, concerned.  
  
"Oh, uh . . . you know, I'm really not sure myself. . . . Goodbye!" And with that he fled down the street.  
  
"That was weird," Misty commented.  
  
"You said it!" Ash agreed.  
  
"Who was that guy?" Brock wondered. "He looked like James, and he sounded like James, and he even kinda acted like James, but how could it have been James??"  
  
Ash picked up the blonde wig and colored contacts, which the boy had left in his haste to get away. "Nothing adds up," he said. "If that was James, why didn't he grab Pikachu while he had the chance?"  
  
"He acted like he had amnesia," Misty put in. "As you yourself said, Ash."  
  
"But he's supposed to be dead," Brock cut in. "No one could've escaped that inferno. And Pikachu found his glove . . ."  
  
"The glove!" Ash exclaimed. "It was the glove for the right hand, wasn't it?"  
  
"I think so," Misty said.  
  
"And that guy had a bandage on his right wrist," Brock added, catching on.  
  
"That's it, guys," Ash said excitedly. "That *was* James! He's alive, but he doesn't remember anything!"  
  
"Poor James," Misty commented.  
  
"Yeah, and what was he babbling about?" Brock wondered. "He thought we were trying to kill him!"  
  
"Somebody *is* trying to kill him," Ash said grimly. "They tried to in that fire, and they'll probably try again."  
  
"What can we do?" Misty asked.  
  
"I'm not sure. Maybe we should tell Officer Jenny," Ash mused.  
  
"That sounds like a good idea," Brock said. "Let's go find her."  
****  
". . . And that's what happened, Officer Jenny," Ash concluded.  
  
"We weren't sure what to do, so we were hoping you'd know," Misty added.  
  
"I'm glad you came to me," Officer Jenny replied, "but I must admit, even I'm not quite sure what to do. All you know is that this person closely resembles James and that he was wounded on his wrist, a spot where James would likely be injured—if he was alive."  
  
"And we also know that someone's trying to kill him," Ash put in.  
  
At that moment Officer Jenny's phone rang. After talking for several minutes, she hung up and turned back to Ash, Misty, and Brock. "Well, that was Nurse Joy on the line," she announced.  
  
"Is something wrong with some of her Pokemon?" Brock asked.  
  
"No, actually, she was calling to tell me about a teenage boy who had been at her hospital a couple of days ago," Officer Jenny replied. "He matches the description of the boy you saw—and of James, too, of course. Nurse Joy said that he staggered in, said something about waking up on a beach with no memories at all, and then fainted. Later she says the hospital was raided by mysterious agents, probably from Team Rocket, and that she couldn't find the boy anywhere afterwards. She assumed they either took him or that he had ran away on his own."  
  
"Did she say what kind of condition the boy was in?" Misty queried.  
  
"She did, actually," Officer Jenny said. "She told me that he was in remarkably good condition after whatever he had gone through. He had escaped with assorted cuts, bruises, a good knock on the head, and some suspicious marks around his neck."  
  
"You mean as if someone had tried to . . ." Misty looked horrified, grabbing her own neck in emphasis.  
  
"That's right," Officer Jenny nodded. "Exactly like that. She also said he was treated for minor smoke inhalation."  
  
Everyone gasped. James would have certainly had that problem—if he was alive.  
  
"From everything I've heard, it certainly seems as if James really is still among the living," Officer Jenny stated. "But whether or not that boy was him, a murder attempt on him is something we can't ignore. I'll send out some officers to help me look for him."  
  
"Thanks, Officer Jenny," Ash said, glad that something was being done. "But they'd better not be too conspicuous or something. James or whoever was really terrified when we saw him."  
  
"My unit has some of the best plainclothes officers in the business," Officer Jenny smiled. "James won't even know we're there."  
****  
"Sir?"  
  
The dark shadow turned to the agent. "What is it now, Malone? Have you failed again?"  
  
"Well, sir, actually. . . . Yes, he got away again," Malone admitted. "And the Meowth has recovered from our attack."  
  
"How many agents does it take to destroy three bumbling idiots?" The silhouetted man did not raise his voice, which only made his anger all the more apparent to Agent Malone. "Or perhaps the problem is that you're all bumbling idiots as well."  
  
"Sir, if I may say so, you didn't do any better yourself," a second agent spoke up spunkily. "Your fiery inferno didn't stop them either."  
  
"True, I may have failed once," their boss agreed, "but you can both be assured it won't happen again. They will all be dead by the time I'm through with them!" He got up from his desk. "Now . . . I will come with you and make sure you do not fail again." 


	5. 5

Jessie walked down the lonely streets angrily. What was going on? Who wanted them dead? If it was Giovanni, then why?  
  
That boy she'd seen several days ago was haunting her thoughts. He had looked like James . . . so very much like James. . . . There was no reason why he wouldn't have been James . . .  
  
Except James was dead. The boy she'd seen at the outdoor cafe hadn't known her. There was no reason why he would have. Unless . . .  
  
She gasped, recalling part of their conversation.  
  
** "Have we met before?" she stammered finally, completely taken aback.  
  
"I don't know," he replied in a soft voice. "I was trying to remember." **  
  
She had noticed something in his eyes, a faint spark of recognition that had quickly disappeared, but after their conversation she hadn't thought any more about it.  
  
There *was* no reason why he wouldn't have been James, she realized. James was alive—he must be sick or something, struck down by amnesia, but he was alive!  
  
At that moment she was surrounded by dark shadows.  
  
"What's going on?" she demanded. "What do you want?"  
  
"You're just going to come with us," the leader growled.  
  
"Oh yeah? Arbok, I choose you!" Jessie flung her Pokeball at the shadows, bringing her serpentine Pokemon out to protect her.  
  
The others only laughed, and the leader summoned a fire Pokemon, which quickly sent Arbok spiraling out of control. "Now, then, where were we?" He reached to grab Jessie's arm.  
  
"I won't go with you!" she snapped, kicking at him.  
  
"Now, now, Jessie, don't be afraid," an all-too-familiar voice purred, and an all-too-familiar person stepped out into view.  
  
"Giovanni!" she gasped. "It was you! It's been you all along!"  
  
"Quite right, my dear. You know, I would have had that troublesome Pikachu in my grasp ages ago if you and James hadn't kept bungling the job."  
  
"Is that why you're doing this? I doubt anyone else could do any better!" Jessie fumed. "Those twerps and their Pikachu are crafty!"  
  
"Yes, I suppose your failure at capturing Pikachu is partially why you must be eliminated," Giovanni replied, toying with her. "But there's more to it than that, especially where your precious James is concerned."  
  
Jessie's eyes burned red. "You monster!"  
  
Giovanni laughed. "Oh, but there will be more time for chatting later. Take her away!"  
  
The agents all moved forward as one, grabbing Jessie and shoving her into a waiting limo. "Let me go!!" she demanded, fighting viciously, but in vain. "James!!" she screamed desperately.  
****  
"Jessie?" James looked up. He had been hiding on the other side of town, in an abandoned house, when he heard a familiar voice calling out to him. "Jessie's in trouble," he said grimly. With no thought for his own safety, he fled through the door, heading for where he knew they were taking her.  
****  
"Ahh, now my dear, we have reached our destination."  
  
Jessie glared at Giovanni as they stopped in front of a factory. "I suppose you're planning to set me up with an 'accident,'" she said angrily.  
  
"You always were the smarter one between you and James," Giovanni smirked as they shoved her out of the limo and inside the dimly-lighted building, where they walked across a narrow balcony high above the machines, which were all powered up and churning out their programmed tasks. "It's quite a pity I have to get rid of you, my dear. But you see, you know so very much that you shouldn't. The day after James' . . . ahem . . . unfortunate demise, when I called you to my office, I could tell you knew I had caused it. It was very clear on your face. You should be more careful, my dear. That mistake will be your undoing."  
  
"Your tone of voice made it clear to me," Jessie retorted. "You should be more careful yourself, buster. And you'll never take me out without a fight!"  
  
"Hmm, strange. You know, those are nearly the exact same words James said to me right before I strangled the life out of him," Giovanni sneered.  
  
"Don't play games with me!" Jessie screamed. "He's alive, and you know it as well as I do!"  
  
Giovanni looked momentarily startled, then smiled wickedly. "You are correct, my dear. He is alive, but I will make sure that doesn't last long."  
  
"Excuse me, but would you like to bet on that?"  
  
Giovanni and Jessie both gasped, looking up. Standing on another balcony high above them, holding his trademark rose, was James. "You'll pay for what you tried to do!" the boy declared, sliding down on a cable to confront Giovanni.  
  
"Ah, James, James. . . . Now I have you both right where I want you." Giovanni smirked. "And you will both pay . . . for knowing too much and for screwing up my plans to get Pikachu. You are no longer useful to me, and when something isn't useful anymore, I tend to discard it." He motioned to his henchmen. "The girl first."  
  
"Think again." Jessie kicked at her captors hard, sending them all flying back hard against the metal railing. "Prepare for trouble!"  
  
"And make it double," James added, but Jessie didn't hear him as she was busy throwing another agent back.  
  
"This is so amusing." Giovanni grabbed James' arm and twisted it painfully backwards, causing him to cry out. "But I'm afraid the party's over." Two more agents seized Jessie, holding her back. "Throw Jessie overboard."  
  
"Don't you dare harm her!" James screamed, outraged.  
  
Jessie angrily kicked out at her captors, sending them flying . . . right over the railing and into a crate of styrofoam packing chips.  
  
"Parting is such sweet sorrow," Giovanni said with a twisted smile. "Unfortunately for you, you won't be as lucky as those two were just now." He shoved James, knocking him over, and grabbed Jessie.  
  
"Get your hands off me!" she snapped, fighting in vain to free herself. Giovanni, she discovered, had a much stronger grip than most of his minions.  
  
"I'm sorry, my dear, but this is goodbye for you . . . OW!" He was interrupted by Jessie biting him and James punching him at the same time. "You'll both wish you hadn't done that," he threatened, preparing to throw Jessie over the railing.  
  
"Let go of her," James growled, grabbing Giovanni angrily and pulling him away from the railing. Giovanni in turn grabbed James and attempted to throw him over the edge. They tumbled and fought all across the balcony, while Jessie fought off more of Giovanni's goons.  
  
This was the situation when Ash, Misty, and Brock ran in.  
  
"What's happening in here?" Misty exclaimed.  
  
"Somebody's going to get hurt if we don't do something," Brock observed.  
  
"We'd better call the police!" Ash decided. "There's a pay phone just down the street."  
  
Meanwhile Giovanni tried once more to shove James over, but instead slammed him hard against the metal railing and James screamed in pain, feeling blood drip down his face, blurring his vision. As Giovanni moved in for the final blow, instead he slipped on the smooth metal surface, pushing James to the floor hard and causing himself to fall over the edge. His ensuing scream echoed throughout the factory.  
  
Jessie, who had just successfully defeated the last henchman, jumped at the sound of Giovanni's scream and looked around frantically for James. She found him laying motionless at the other end of the balcony and was instantly at his side. "James! James, can you hear me?" She pulled him gently into her arms.  
  
James opened his eyes weakly. "You're . . . the girl from the outdoor cafe," he said softly.  
  
Jessie's eyes filled with tears. "James . . . you don't know me, do you?"  
  
James smiled, taking Jessie's hand in his own. "Yes, I do. . . . I know you . . . Jessie." With that his eyes closed again and he fell limp in her arms.  
  
"James! Speak to me, James!" Jessie cried frantically. "Say something!" Outside, the police sirens wailed and the officers came in to round up the bad guys, but Jessie paid them no heed as she pleaded in vain for James to awaken. 


	6. 6

"Jessie! Jessie!"  
  
Jessie looked up, her vision blurring from the tears. Meowth, fully recovered from the ambush a few days before, was bounding toward her, followed closely by Ash, Misty, and Brock.  
  
"What happened?" Ash gasped.  
  
"It's James," Jessie said softly. "Giovanni attacked us and James started fighting with him."  
  
"Is he . . .?" They all gathered around, looking worried.  
  
"I'm afraid he just might be," Jessie sobbed.  
  
"Pika?" Pikachu nudged James, trying desperately to get him to respond.  
  
"What's this?" Ash held up a red rose, which Jessie took with trembling hands.   
  
"James loved roses," she whispered, pressing the flower gently into the lifeless boy's hand. She caressed his cheek. "Oh James. . . . Why did you have to go?"  
  
"Jessie?"  
  
Everyone jumped.  
  
"It's Jim!" Meowth exclaimed. "He's alive after all!"  
  
"Huh?" They all turned to look at James. His eyes were open and he looked confused.  
  
"James! You scared me so bad . . ." Jessie trailed off, hugging James tightly.  
  
"Boy, first he's dead, then alive, then dead and alive again," Meowth remarked sardonically, trying to hide his own relief.  
  
Ash tried not to laugh. "Are you okay, James?" he asked. "You've been through a lot these last few days."  
  
James smiled ruefully and rubbed at his head. "I think I'm alright. At any rate, I remember everything now."  
  
"Pika-pika!" Pikachu greeted James happily.  
  
"Ah, Pikachu. . . . I never thought you'd be happy to see me," James chuckled, stroking the small Pokemon's fur.  
  
"Pika!" Pikachu replied.  
  
"So, Jim, ya remember me too?" the feline Pokemon asked.  
  
"Of course, Meowth," James said dryly.  
  
"Maybe ya can tell us how ya survived the explosions," Meowth said. "They said there was no way ya could've gotten outta there!"  
  
James smiled grimly. "Somebody—Giovanni, I'll assume—snuck up on me in the woods and tried to strangle me. I must say, he almost succeeded. But he wasn't counting on me playing a little trick on him."  
  
"A trick?" Ash repeated.  
  
James nodded. "I pretended to pass out on him, and he fell for it, just like I was certain he would. When he was gone, I got up and tried to fight my way out of the fire. Somehow I must have taken a misstep somewhere, because first I wound up cutting myself on a jagged rock I fell across, and then I was pushed over a cliff. I tore my shirt on the way down and hit my head on a rock at the bottom in the water."  
  
"You were pushed over the cliff?" Jessie said in horror.  
  
"Giovanni must have discovered I wasn't dead and tried to finish the job again," James said with a shudder.  
  
"Oh man, that's awful," Brock remarked.  
  
"Pika," Pikachu agreed.  
  
"Oh, speaking of Giovanni . . ." James looked around nervously, peering over the railing. "Is he . . . dead?"  
  
"I don't know, Jim," Meowth replied, "because no one's found him."  
  
James groaned. "I have the sneaking suspicion we haven't heard the last from him."  
  
"Why did he want you dead, James?" Ash asked.  
  
"I have no better idea on that than I did before," James said with a helpless shrug. "And I'm not so sure that's a good thing."  
  
"Well, let's get out of this creepy place," Misty announced suddenly.  
  
"That's fine with me," James said wryly as they came down from the balcony. They all left the factory together as friends, at least for the time being. 


End file.
